Wednesday, May 26, 2004
THE END OF 1957
The first year was pretty rough financially because our house payments were more than the rent we had been paying and we had strapped ourselves to buy the house. We held our breath hoping there would be no maintenance problems with the house or car. We continued to have doctor’s appointments with John for his eyes. During the first few months after he was born I noticed when he slept on his tummy both of his feet went the same way. If the leg and feet muscles are normal the toes point in opposite directions.
I didn’t do anything about it at first because everyone thought I was over-reacting since the eye surgery. Still, the signs I kept looking for never happened, the feet kept pointing the same. I finally made an appointment with Dr. Needles because I couldn’t shake the feeling something was wrong. He looked him over carefully and told me about a good orthopedic man down on the Plaza. He had Mrs. McCormick call for an appointment and we followed up at the appointed time.
Dr. Driskal was a young doctor and after checking John over good told me the muscles were under-developed in the leg that I was concerned about. He wanted to put him in a cast from the knee down for two weeks and see what that would do. Dr. Driskal said if we had not caught the defect it would have been very painful for John to walk, if at all. I felt sorry for him because when the cast was being put on, his foot was bent back in the opposite direction to force the muscles and tendons in the correct position. He purposely “over corrected” it so that when the cast came off and his leg relaxed it would then be in the normal range. John didn’t make a fuss over the cast….when it was dried enough I took him home. We were to be back in two weeks.
On our second visit Dr. Driskal wasn’t satisfied with the progress and decided to put on another cast from the toes to the diaper line. Again the foot was forced in the opposite direction and we were to return in two weeks. This was then repeated a third time but only to the knee. When the six weeks were over Dr. Driskal put him in a brace that connected his two feet. The one was pointed straight forward and the other was bent in a 45*angle outward. The brace was screwed onto the soles of his shoes much like the old roller skates were when I was a girl.
We were to leave it on night and day only taken off to bathe. He couldn’t wear footed pajamas so I put gowns on him at night. His crib was in our bedroom and for some time when John would turn over and bang his brace into the sides of the crib we would wake up. Eventually it was like sleeping next to a railroad track. We never heard it. It was the same with him. He learned quickly how to manage the brace in accordance with what he wanted to do. As he got older he would pull up to the divan and “walk” along pivoting the brace in a “sea-saw” manner. It was amazing how fast and how far he could get like that. He never complained or seemed to be uncomfortable with it so that difficult time was made easier for us as parents. The only bad thing to watch for was if you held him on your lap and he got excited over something he was prone to kick his legs up and then hit your shins with the brace. One time of that made an impression so that whoever held him was watchful.
By the time we moved to 65th Street he was still in his brace….he wore it six months. John posted a picture of his first Christmas where I am holding him. It isn’t very plain but he is wearing the brace in the picture. (The picture is in his December 19, 2003 post.) Once he was out of the brace Dr. Driskal put him in corrective shoes. They had wedges at certain places in the soles to keep his foot and knee in position. From then on we had regular visits with Dr. Driskal and John remained in corrective shoes until he was in school. I never saw a happier kid than when we went to a “real shoe store” and bought some Keds. He hopped and jumped around for days.
By the end of 1957 Georgie was half-way through first grade at Nieman School, Becky was 3 ½ years old and John was a few days short of 10 months. We put up a live Christmas tree and decorated with lights, tinsel and colored balls. The children helped and thought it was beautiful. As our tradition was from the beginning, we always had cocoa and cookies when we finished decorating. It was a full, rich time though we had little materially ……we were blessed with happiness. Christmas was always such a happy time for the children….I can still see their eyes shining with anticipation and excitement over the holiday to come. As I stood at their bedroom door and looked in on them sleeping, snow began to gently fall. Tomorrow they would wake up to a white world……..
Until then,
Essentially Esther
I didn’t do anything about it at first because everyone thought I was over-reacting since the eye surgery. Still, the signs I kept looking for never happened, the feet kept pointing the same. I finally made an appointment with Dr. Needles because I couldn’t shake the feeling something was wrong. He looked him over carefully and told me about a good orthopedic man down on the Plaza. He had Mrs. McCormick call for an appointment and we followed up at the appointed time.
Dr. Driskal was a young doctor and after checking John over good told me the muscles were under-developed in the leg that I was concerned about. He wanted to put him in a cast from the knee down for two weeks and see what that would do. Dr. Driskal said if we had not caught the defect it would have been very painful for John to walk, if at all. I felt sorry for him because when the cast was being put on, his foot was bent back in the opposite direction to force the muscles and tendons in the correct position. He purposely “over corrected” it so that when the cast came off and his leg relaxed it would then be in the normal range. John didn’t make a fuss over the cast….when it was dried enough I took him home. We were to be back in two weeks.
On our second visit Dr. Driskal wasn’t satisfied with the progress and decided to put on another cast from the toes to the diaper line. Again the foot was forced in the opposite direction and we were to return in two weeks. This was then repeated a third time but only to the knee. When the six weeks were over Dr. Driskal put him in a brace that connected his two feet. The one was pointed straight forward and the other was bent in a 45*angle outward. The brace was screwed onto the soles of his shoes much like the old roller skates were when I was a girl.
We were to leave it on night and day only taken off to bathe. He couldn’t wear footed pajamas so I put gowns on him at night. His crib was in our bedroom and for some time when John would turn over and bang his brace into the sides of the crib we would wake up. Eventually it was like sleeping next to a railroad track. We never heard it. It was the same with him. He learned quickly how to manage the brace in accordance with what he wanted to do. As he got older he would pull up to the divan and “walk” along pivoting the brace in a “sea-saw” manner. It was amazing how fast and how far he could get like that. He never complained or seemed to be uncomfortable with it so that difficult time was made easier for us as parents. The only bad thing to watch for was if you held him on your lap and he got excited over something he was prone to kick his legs up and then hit your shins with the brace. One time of that made an impression so that whoever held him was watchful.
By the time we moved to 65th Street he was still in his brace….he wore it six months. John posted a picture of his first Christmas where I am holding him. It isn’t very plain but he is wearing the brace in the picture. (The picture is in his December 19, 2003 post.) Once he was out of the brace Dr. Driskal put him in corrective shoes. They had wedges at certain places in the soles to keep his foot and knee in position. From then on we had regular visits with Dr. Driskal and John remained in corrective shoes until he was in school. I never saw a happier kid than when we went to a “real shoe store” and bought some Keds. He hopped and jumped around for days.
By the end of 1957 Georgie was half-way through first grade at Nieman School, Becky was 3 ½ years old and John was a few days short of 10 months. We put up a live Christmas tree and decorated with lights, tinsel and colored balls. The children helped and thought it was beautiful. As our tradition was from the beginning, we always had cocoa and cookies when we finished decorating. It was a full, rich time though we had little materially ……we were blessed with happiness. Christmas was always such a happy time for the children….I can still see their eyes shining with anticipation and excitement over the holiday to come. As I stood at their bedroom door and looked in on them sleeping, snow began to gently fall. Tomorrow they would wake up to a white world……..
Until then,
Essentially Esther
